Microwave - Microwave Frequency Bands

Microwave Frequency Bands

The microwave spectrum is usually defined as electromagnetic energy ranging from approximately 1 GHz to 100 GHz in frequency, but older usage includes lower frequencies. Most common applications are within the 1 to 40 GHz range. One set of microwave frequency bands designations by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), is tabulated below:

ITU Radio Band Numbers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ITU Radio Band Symbols

ELF SLF ULF VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF THF
NATO Radio bands

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
IEEE Radar bands

HF VHF UHF L S C X Ku K Ka Q V W D
v d e
Microwave frequency bands
Letter Designation Frequency range
L band 1 to 2 GHz
S band 2 to 4 GHz
C band 4 to 8 GHz
X band 8 to 12 GHz
Ku band 12 to 18 GHz
K band 18 to 26.5 GHz
Ka band 26.5 to 40 GHz
Q band 33 to 50 GHz
U band 40 to 60 GHz
V band 50 to 75 GHz
E band 60 to 90 GHz
W band 75 to 110 GHz
F band 90 to 140 GHz
D band 110 to 170 GHz

P band is sometimes used for Ku Band. "P" for "previous" was a radar band used in the UK ranging from 250 to 500 MHz and now obsolete per IEEE Std 521, see and.

When radars were first developed at K band during World War II, it was not realized that there was a nearby absorption band (due to water vapor and oxygen at the atmosphere). To avoid this problem, the original K band was split into a lower band, Ku, and upper band, Ka see.

Read more about this topic:  Microwave

Famous quotes containing the words microwave, frequency and/or bands:

    “The New Age? It’s just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds.”
    —James Randi (b. 1928)

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    “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
    —Bible: New Testament, Luke 2:6,7.